There is always a tendency in our hearts to limit the grace of God, an unwillingness to believe both in its sovereignty and in its fullness; and this tendency is sometimes intensified even in those who most strongly insist upon the great truths of redemption. There is therefore continual need to examine anew even what we conceive to be the undoubted teachings of Scripture; not with the view of unsettling ourselves, or of fostering uncertainty, but with the simple desire to be found on every point in entire subjection to the word of God. For example, there are many beloved saints who have overlooked the meaning and force of the words which the apostle used in reply to the jailor, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house” (Acts 16:3131And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. (Acts 16:31)). The necessity for individual faith is seen, and the connected promise of individual salvation; but for all practical purposes the additional promise is often forgotten. In like manner, when the question is now put, “What must I do to be saved?” the answer is almost universally given as, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved;” omitting the words, “and thy house?' It is so both in preaching and in writing; and there is consequently an unintentional narrowing of the circle of the grace of God.
We propose, then, to trace the Scriptural teaching on this subject—on the connection of the household with the believer; and I think we shall see that the principle obtains both in the past and present dispensations.
Let us turn first of all to Genesis 7:11And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation. (Genesis 7:1): “And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.” This passage is exceedingly important, because it is so worded that no doubt whatever can be entertained as to its express significance. The ground on which the Lord commands Noah to enter with his house into the ark is, “For thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.” And if it should be objected, that probably all the members of the household were also “righteous” before God, the after—history of one of the number—Ham (Gen. 9:22-2522And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. 23And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness. 24And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him. 25And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. (Genesis 9:22‑25))—forbids the thought. The force of the statement therefore cannot in any way be diminished, that the family of Noah was delivered from the judgment of the flood because of the faith of its head. True that it was not salvation; but it was typically so (1 Peter 3:2020Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. (1 Peter 3:20),21); and surely it was no small blessing to be carried in the ark through that mighty flood which in judgment overwhelmed and desolated the whole earth. “Every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah, only remained [alive], and they that were with him in the ark” (Gen. 7:2323And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark. (Genesis 7:23)). Thus the whole household was brought, in the grace of God, out from under the judgment, and placed upon the new earth, because of the faith of Noah. Not only so, but the circle of God's grace was still enlarged; for we find that the sons' wives were also included in the merciful purposes of God; thus making up the eight persons of which the apostle Peter speaks as having been saved by water” (1 Peter 3:2020Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. (1 Peter 3:20)).
We pass now to another instance recorded in Genesis 12: “So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him ... And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came” (vss. 4-5). We do not remark further upon this case now (as we shall have to recur to it when dealing with another part of the subject) than to point out the fact, that the household of Abram was brought with himself out of Chaldea and Haran into Canaan; and this was done on the same principle, as in the instance of Noah, the household being linked before God with its head.
We take, in the next place, the remarkable case of Lot; and it is the more striking because he had declined from the path of faith, forsaken the character of a pilgrim, and become a citizen of Sodom. The facts of his history are familiar to all: would that its warnings and lessons were more observed! The long-suffering of God was now about to pass over into righteous judgment, because the sin of “the cities of the plain” was very grievous. But when God destroyed these cities, He “remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt” (Gen. 19:2929And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt. (Genesis 19:29)). It is not however Lot's connection with Abraham that we dwell upon, significant as it is for our subject, nor for the fact that he was delivered from destruction through the intercession of his uncle, but we call attention here to the family of Lot himself. And we find that the same principle obtains, that it was not only Lot, but that also his family were spared, or had the opportunity of being spared, in that day of destructive judgment. “And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? son-in-law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place: for we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the Lord; and the Lord hath sent us to destroy it” (Gen. 19:12-1312And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place: 13For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the Lord; and the Lord hath sent us to destroy it. (Genesis 19:12‑13)). It must over be remembered that Lot, notwithstanding his grievous position, was a “righteous man” (2 Peter 2:88(For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;) (2 Peter 2:8)); and we accordingly see, as in the other instances, that God linked the family of His servant with himself, that His mercy and grace went out and embraced all that were connected with the “righteous man,” offering to them salvation from the judgment that was about to fall upon that doomed scene, though his sons-in-law in unbelief (and who shall tell how much this had been begotten in their hearts by the conduct of Lot?) chose death rather than life. “And Lot went out, and spake to his sons-in-law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons-in-law” (vs. 14).
The passover may he next considered as indeed a typical exemplification of the principle. The Lord commanded Moses, “Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house” (Ex. 12:33Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: (Exodus 12:3)) Again, “And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are” (vs. 13). It is evident therefore that the passover was kept by Israel, family by family, that it was on the principle of a lamb for each household; and that they were sheltered, family by family, through the blood sprinkled upon their respective dwellings. Consequently, it was the father's act—his obedience of faith—that secured to his household immunity from the stroke of judgment that fell upon the land of Egypt. Just, indeed, as it was Noah's faith that led to his building the ark, in which his whole family were sheltered from the flood, so it was the faith of the parent at the passover in Egypt which led to the sprinkling of the blood upon the two side-posts, and on the upper doorpost of his house, according to the commandment of the Lord, whereby he, his firstborn, and his household were infallibly protected from the judgment of the destroyer. The state of the household did not come into the question. The essential point was the sprinkling of the blood. Had the head of the house obeyed the divine directions?
Had he killed the lamb, and sprinkled the blood? If so, nothing could harm them. “For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when He seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side-posts, the Lord will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you” (vs. 23). It is true that only the first-born, as far as we know, would have fallen, if unsheltered by the blood, under the judgment-stroke; but the significance of the blood, figure as it was of the blood of the Lamb of God, went much further, protecting, in virtue of its typical value, family by family, the whole of Israel. For we find Moses saying, when he directed the perpetual observance of the passover, “It shall come to pass when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service? that ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the Lord's passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses” (Ex. 12:26-2726And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service? 27That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the Lord's passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshipped. (Exodus 12:26‑27)). Hence, too, Moses, when Pharaoh demanded of him, “Who are they that shall go?” replied, “We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and our daughters” (Ex. 10:8-98And Moses and Aaron were brought again unto Pharaoh: and he said unto them, Go, serve the Lord your God: but who are they that shall go? 9And Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go; for we must hold a feast unto the Lord. (Exodus 10:8‑9)); for it was the sprinkled blood, as we have seen, that secured them from destruction.
Illustrations of the same truth may be found throughout the Pentateuch. See, for example, Lev. 16:1717And there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goeth in to make an atonement in the holy place, until he come out, and have made an atonement for himself, and for his household, and for all the congregation of Israel. (Leviticus 16:17); Lev. 22:12-1312If the priest's daughter also be married unto a stranger, she may not eat of an offering of the holy things. 13But if the priest's daughter be a widow, or divorced, and have no child, and is returned unto her father's house, as in her youth, she shall eat of her father's meat: but there shall no stranger eat thereof. (Leviticus 22:12‑13); Num. 18:1111And this is thine; the heave offering of their gift, with all the wave offerings of the children of Israel: I have given them unto thee, and to thy sons and to thy daughters with thee, by a statute for ever: every one that is clean in thy house shall eat of it. (Numbers 18:11); Deut. 12:77And there ye shall eat before the Lord your God, and ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto, ye and your households, wherein the Lord thy God hath blessed thee. (Deuteronomy 12:7); Deut. 14:2626And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth: and thou shalt eat there before the Lord thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thine household, (Deuteronomy 14:26).
Before we proceed to the New Testament, we may allude to the case of Rahab, one of the most remarkable instances of grace recorded in the Scriptures, as well as one of the most distinct foreshadowings of the call of the Gentiles. The Holy Spirit has even given her a special place among the saints distinguished for faith in Hebrews 11 Examining then the narrative (Josh. 2), what do we find? That she was the solitary exception in the destruction of Jericho and its inhabitants? That her faith availed only for herself? By no means. But the spies said unto her, “Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father's household, home unto thee. And it shall be, that whosoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless: and whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be upon him” (vss. 18-19). And when they captured the city, Joshua said unto the two men that spied out the country, “Go into the harlot's house, and bring out thence the woman, and all that she hath, as ye sware unto her. And the young men that were spies went in, and brought out Rehab, and her father, and her mother, and her brethren, and all that she had; and they brought out all her kindred [margin, families], and left them without the camp of Israel.... And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father's household, and all that she had; and she dwelleth in Israel unto this day; because she hid the messengers, which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho” (Josh. 6:22,23,2522But Joshua had said unto the two men that had spied out the country, Go into the harlot's house, and bring out thence the woman, and all that she hath, as ye sware unto her. 23And the young men that were spies went in, and brought out Rahab, and her father, and her mother, and her brethren, and all that she had; and they brought out all her kindred, and left them without the camp of Israel. (Joshua 6:22‑23)
25And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father's household, and all that she had; and she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day; because she hid the messengers, which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho. (Joshua 6:25)).
There is this difference between Rahab and the other cases which we have considered, that she is not the head of a family. It is on this very account that the family principle, or what may be termed the unity of the, household before God, is more remarkably exemplified. It would almost seem that those who have a family connection with an individual believer receive a special place, become objects of tender interest with God. As indeed we find it in the epistle to the Corinthians: “For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy” (1 Cor. 7:1414For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy. (1 Corinthians 7:14)).
All these examples have been taken from the Old Testament; and the question now arises, Have we any reproduction of the principle in the dispensation of grace? If we have not, though our souls may find profit from meditation upon these singularly interesting ways of God in the days of old, these revelations of His character and tender love, we could not infer anything as to the relation of the believer now to his household. If we have, then a flood of light is poured upon our family relationships before God, and also upon the solemn responsibilities (and, we may add, upon the blessed privileges) of the heads of families or households.
Let us look first of all, then, at Acts 11. The apostle Peter had been to Cornelius, and had seen the Holy Ghost poured out upon the Gentiles, and had, in virtue of the commission entrusted to him, admitted them into the church of God on earth. When he and his companions of the circumcision heard the Gentiles “speak with tongues, and magnify God, then answered Peter, Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord” (Acts 10:44-4844While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. 45And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. 46For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter, 47Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? 48And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days. (Acts 10:44‑48)). But when he returned to Jerusalem, “they that were of the circumcision contended with him, saying, Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised, and didst eat with them” (Acts 11:2-32And when Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision contended with him, 3Saying, Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised, and didst eat with them. (Acts 11:2‑3)). In reply to this complaint, Peter rehearsed the whole of the circumstances which led to his visit, declared his vision, and explained that he went at the express direction of the Spirit of God. Furthermore, he told them how that Cornelius had been commanded by an angel to send for him in these words: “Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter; who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved” (Acts 11:4-144But Peter rehearsed the matter from the beginning, and expounded it by order unto them, saying, 5I was in the city of Joppa praying: and in a trance I saw a vision, A certain vessel descend, as it had been a great sheet, let down from heaven by four corners; and it came even to me: 6Upon the which when I had fastened mine eyes, I considered, and saw fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. 7And I heard a voice saying unto me, Arise, Peter; slay and eat. 8But I said, Not so, Lord: for nothing common or unclean hath at any time entered into my mouth. 9But the voice answered me again from heaven, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common. 10And this was done three times: and all were drawn up again into heaven. 11And, behold, immediately there were three men already come unto the house where I was, sent from Caesarea unto me. 12And the Spirit bade me go with them, nothing doubting. Moreover these six brethren accompanied me, and we entered into the man's house: 13And he showed us how he had seen an angel in his house, which stood and said unto him, Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter; 14Who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved. (Acts 11:4‑14); compare Acts 2:38-3938Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 39For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. (Acts 2:38‑39)).
Here, then, at the very outset of Christianity, we have the re-appearance of the connection of the house with its head; and passing on to chapter 16 we find exactly the same thing declared by the apostle Paul in answer to the jailor. “Believe,” says he, “on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house” (vs. 31). The concurrence is the more remarkable from the exact agreement of the words employed. This will be more distinctly seen if the Greek is quoted. Peter (repeating the words of the angel) says, “Who shall tell thee words whereby (σωθήσηςὺ καὶ πᾶς ὁ οῖκός σου) thou shalt be saved, and all thy house.” Paul, speaking to the jailor, says, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and (σωθήση σὺ καὶ ὁ οῖκος σου) thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” It will be thus seen, that Paul uses exactly the same words (with the single exception of “all”) as Peter, and in the same order. We conclude from this fact, inasmuch as it is impossible to suppose that the agreement is fortuitous, that they compose a formula expressing a well-known truth. Secondly, the significance of the agreement is heightened in that they were used in the one case by the apostle of the circumcision, and in the other by the apostle of the uncircumcision, though in both cases concerning Gentiles.
Thus we have the principle which, as we have seen, obtains throughout past dispensations, declared in the present by the two foremost representatives of Christianity. Peter, on the one hand, “a witness of the sufferings of Christ,” and, on the other hand, Paul, who received his apostleship from the Lord in the glory, unite in proclaiming that there is a connection in the grace of God between the believer and his household. Unbelief may seek to wrest the meaning or to diminish the force of the words, but there they stand, the ineffaceable declaration of the ways of God, the revelation also to us of His heart, proclaiming as they do the sacredness of the family relationship, the unity of the household, indeed, in His sight.
We must be very careful, however, not to go beyond the divine intention; and hence we must now seek to ascertain the significance of the connection.
In the first place, then, let it be very distinctly observed that it does not mean that the faith of the head of the household ensures the salvation of its members. No truth is more evident from the Scriptures than that there can be no salvation apart from individual faith. The examples of Ham, Esau, the sons of Eli and of Samuel and Absalom are solemn warnings that the faith of the parent cannot save his child. This should ever be repeated in most emphatic notes; for while, on the one hand, we dare not contract the circle of God's grace, on the other hand, we may not, must not, expand it. While earnestly contending for the unity of the household before God, we must as earnestly contend that every member of the household must believe in the Lord Jesus Christ in order to salvation. Let there be no misconception or mistake on this point; for error here would be of the most fatal kind.
But, secondly, while it is not a question of individual salvation, the household of the believer has a special place of privilege, in the view of God, upon the earth. The children are linked with the believing parent, and are thus looked upon as in external connection with God's people —as separated unto Him on the earth, and in the sphere of the immediate action of the Holy Ghost. Such is the force, we judge, of the scripture already cited, “Now are they [the children of a believing parent] holy.” For holiness means separation unto God; and as it cannot be in this case intrinsic holiness (nor the holiness which the believer has in Christ), it can only signify external separation; that is they are detached, as it were, from the world, and connected with that which bears the name of Christ upon the earth, and which is the habitation of God through the Spirit. Hence, in Ephesians and Colossians, the households of believers — wives, husbands, children, parents, servants, and masters—are included in the exhortations given, each class being separately addressed. And in this fact lies the foundation of the believer's responsibility to govern his household for the Lord.
If therefore we admire, on the one hand, the abounding grace of our God, in thus flowing out and embracing our households, we must not forget, on the other, the responsibilities that are thereby entailed; for privilege and responsibility are ever connected. The Lord enable us each to learn our respective responsibilities in His own presence, and give us grace so to meet them that His name may be glorified in us, and in every member of our households!